provan



(No Modl.

. J. W. PROVAN.

HAY PORK.

No. 360,783. Patented Apr. 5, 1887.

' dcxwzmg UNITED STATES PATENT- OFFICE.

JAMES w. PROVAN, or osHAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA.

' HAY-FORK.

$.PECIE'ICATION fdrming part. of Letters Patent No. 360,783, dated April 5, 1887.

Application filed September 2, 1886. Serial No. 212,500. (No model.)

, the following is a specification.

The object of the invention is to design a double harpoon horse hay-fork which will carry the hay close to the lifting ring or bracket and yet be provided with a lever, by which it may be operated with the least possible exertion; and it consists, essentially, first, in jointing the lever for lifting the harpoon-points, so that it may be folded down out of the way of the car after the harpoon-points have been set; secondly, in connecting the harpoon-points to a crank-bar offset from the journals, which carry and connect it to the prongs of the fork, the whole being arranged substantially asand for the purpose herein after more particularly explained.

Figure 1 is a view of the fork set to enter the hay. Fig. 2 is a View of the harpoonpoints set to lift the hay.

In hay-forks as now generallymade either the lever for operating the harpoon-points is made so short as to require considerable exertion to set the points, or the crank-bar for operating the points is set so low down on the prongs that a considerable space which should be occu pied by the hay is lost. By my peculiar construction I am able to place the crank-bar for operating the points close to the top or cross bar of the fork and am yet able to have a long lever, by which the harpoon-points may be operated with case.

In the drawings, A represents the prongs of the" fork connected together by the crossbar B, the prongs and cross-bar being made out of one piece of metal.

G is a crankbar offset from its journals, D,

. which support and connect it to the prongs A,

as shown.

E are rods, connected at their upper ends to the crank-bar O, as indicated, their other ends being connected to the harpoon-points F.

G is a'lever, connected to the crankbar O, and jointed at a.

H is a bracket, rigidly secured to the crossbar B,and projecting below the said cross-bar.

lhe latch I is pivoted at d to the bracket H,between the sides of the said bracket.

J is a trip-lever having .an eye formed on 1 its upper end to' engage with the trip-rope K. From this eye the trip-lever J extends on either side of the crossbar D, and at its lower end is rigidly fastened to the latch I.

e is a tongue formed on the crank-bars O, and is designed to engage with the latch I when the fork is set, as shown in Fig. 2.

Among the advantages of my invention which will be appreciated is the fact that in pressing my improved fork into the hay to secure a load an upward pressure is exerted on the crank-bar O, and that when the lever G is pulled upon, in order to throw the harpoonpoints F into the position they are shown in Fig. 2, the upper pressure of the hay on the said crank-bar 0 assists in forcing it up.

What I claim as my invention isoperating the harpoon-points of a hay-fork, of a jointed lever attached to the crank-bar O and adapted to fold at right angles to the length of the prongs, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. The offset crank-bar C, journaled on the prongs A, and provided with the jointed leharpoon-points F, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

3: Theoombinat-iomwitli theharpoon-points, the prongs,and means for operating said points, of the bracket H, secured to the cross-bar B, and the latch I, pivoted to said bracket and provided with a lever, J, substantially as an for the purpose specified.

' JAs. w. PROVAN.

In presence of- CHARLES C. BALDWIN, J AMEs E. MAYBEE.

1. The combination,with the mechanism for I ver G, in combination with the rods E and 4. The offset crank-bar O, journaled on the 

